My Soul To Keep
by Thymetraveler
Summary: A young woman tries on a strange silver bracelet in an antique shop, and finds herself magically transported to Hogwarts, and into the arms of one Severus Snape.
1. Default Chapter

Chapter One  
  
The gray overcast sky had been threatening rain all day. Finally, true to its threat, it had unleashed an unholy downpour. Miranda Maris sighed in frustration. She was never going to accomplish all of the sightseeing she had painstakingly planned on, without at least some cooperation from the weather.  
  
She had been in London for almost three weeks, and had not achieved half of the activities on her "List of Things to See and Do". As a vacationing American, she knew that she might not ever make it back to London, and she definitely wanted to see everything during this one trip. She had planned this vacation for several years, researching the immediate area, making lengthy lists of places she wanted to visit, things she wanted to do. It was a dream come true, to finally be here, finally be able to explore London, even if only for her extended holiday.  
  
Miranda was a librarian, and while most people would not consider working in a library as a very exciting profession, she was very content with her work. She had always loved books, and everything to do with them. She loved the wonderful stories in them, the beautiful workmanship of the older volumes, the detailed illustrations some displayed. Books were old friends that could be visited again, and again. She loved being able to learn about other places and times. She was innately curious about other people, and read everything she could get her hands on.  
  
The only downside to being a librarian, she had decided, was the meager pay. She would never become wealthy. Not that she cared about that sort of thing, it was just that it was a hindrance to some of the other things she had always wanted to do, like travel. All of her life she had read about other people and places, and she desired nothing more than to be able to visit those places, meet those people, and explore their worlds. She had to scrimp and save every penny to be able to afford this vacation. She had sacrificed so much to make this one dream of hers come true. She was certainly not going to let a little bad weather dampen her spirits, and ruin her day.  
  
Dodging the other pedestrians, she ran under a canopy that covered a storefront. Miranda debated whether she should just do some souvenir shopping, or perhaps get a bit of lunch at the pub down the street. She finally decided she wasn't that hungry yet, and it would be much more fun to stop in and visit with her new friend at Black Dog Antiques. Having discovered the shop on one of her first rainy days in town, and stopping in several times during her stay, she had quickly made friends with Sylvia Smythe, the owner. Sylvia was a bright and cheery older woman, who made Miranda feel right at home and let her browse to her heart's content. Her shop featured all kinds of antiques. There was the usual home furnishing type items, some artwork, vintage clothing, jewelry, and best of all, the books.  
  
Miranda was enthralled by the books. Sylvia had amassed quite an eclectic collection. There was everything from History, and Geography, to Herbs and Potions. Potions? Must be a British thing, she guessed. Sylvia did not seem to mind at all letting Miranda look at the books. She would even go so far as to bring her tea and biscuits, and sit with her while she read. They had become very comfortable with each other, and just enjoyed each other's company.  
  
Today, when Miranda entered the shop she noticed that Sylvia appeared to be excited She was even cheerier than usual, and that was saying something. Sylvia greeted her enthusiastically and began telling her about a new acquisition. Apparently she had been to an estate auction, and was the triumphant winner of several items. The most interesting of which was an antique trunk. Sylvia had bid on the trunk contents unseen, and was only now beginning to explore it's interior. Miranda smiled at her apparent optimism of finding buried treasure among the trunks contents, and went past her to the back of the shop where the books were shelved.  
  
A few minutes later her reading was interrupted, as Sylvia let out a loud exclamation. She called for Miranda to come and look at her find. Miranda put down the slim volume of poems she had been reading and walked over to the middle of the store, where Sylvia was holding up some very dark, rich looking cloth.  
  
"What is it?" Miranda asked. It looked like very expensive fabric, a very soft black velvet type material, with touches of silver.  
  
Sylvia shook out the fabric, and they both gasped as they realized it actually a beautifully cut gown. The gown was floor length, and was very old-fashioned in style. It had long sleeves, that were tight in the upper arm, but flared out a bit at the wrist. The bodice was low cut, and trimmed in the silver embroidery. The skirt was full, and there was an inset of embroidered material in the front, leading in a v-shape down from the bodice. The detail and workmanship were exquisite. Clearly, it had been very expensive, and created by a professional designer.  
  
The two women examined the gown carefully, but could find no sign of damage or decay. It was amazing, the gown must have been packed away in the trunk for many years, and yet it exhibited no signs of its age.  
  
"It is too beautiful." Miranda said in awe. She knew Sylvia was overjoyed at her find. This definitely was buried treasure.  
  
"Try it on", Sylvia said suddenly, as she pushed the gown into Miranda's arms. "I want to see what it looks like on someone".  
  
"Oh, no, I couldn't" Miranda gasped. "What if I ripped it or something? Besides, what is the chance that it would fit me, anyway? I'm not exactly the model figure type."  
  
Sylvia stood back and looked Miranda over. True, she had not the slender, waif type figure that was so popular today, but she was very well built. She was of average height, and her curves were all in the right places. No, for some unknown reason, she thought the dress would fit Miranda just fine.  
  
"Please try it on for me. I want to see what it looks like, and I am much to old to wear such a thing. And with your coloring, I think the dress would be lovely."  
  
The dress would go well with Miranda's black hair and violet eyes. 'Oh well, what could it hurt, she thought. And if it would please Sylvia, then she would be very careful and try it on.' She took the gown to the small room Sylvia had set aside as a dressing room, and removed her boots, jeans and sweater. Very hesitantly she pulled the gown over her head, being careful so that she would not rip a seam. Almost like magic, the gown settled over her, and seemed to fit itself to her body. 'Wow', she thought. 'I feel like a fairytale princess.' She had to remind herself that the dress wouldn't have been black, in a fairytale. No, with the gloomy weather, and dark color, the dress would go better with a gothic novel.  
  
"Well, let's see then", said Sylvia. She had returned to rooting around in the trunk, while Miranda was putting on the dress. Sylvia pulled a small black box from the trunk and pried open it's lid. The interior was lined in green velvet, and appeared to contain some jewelry items. Sylvia was pulling out the pieces of jewelry one at a time when she heard the dressing room door open, and Miranda emerged.  
  
"Oh, my! How lovely!" Sylvia exclaimed as she set aside the jewelry. She was very happy to see that the gown fit Miranda perfectly, as if it had been expertly designed to fit exactly her frame. It was amazing how well it fit the young woman, and how beautiful she looked wearing it. Now, all she needed was something done with her hair.  
  
"Come over here, my dear, and let me see what we can do about your hairstyle. It should match the dress." She pulled Miranda over to a bench and pushed her down onto the seat. Returning to the jewelry items she had recently pulled from the trunk and set aside, she pulled out some hair combs. The combs looked as if they had been designed to go with this very dress, They were silver, with an intricate inlay of black Jet stones, that glittered in the light. Sylvia began to pull up strands of Miranda's long hair, holding it this way and that, trying to decide the best style.  
  
Miranda felt a little silly by this time, but decided 'in for a penny, in for a pound'. Anyway, what would it hurt if she let Sylvia use her for a live mannequin. Besides, she had nothing better to do, on this rainy afternoon. As if to punctuate the thought, the room shook with a resounding crack of thunder. Yes, she thought she might as well stay for a while, and play dress up with Sylvia.  
  
"There now, that's better!" Sylvia exclaimed, as she stepped back and admired her creation. "Stand up. Now turn around and let me see you."  
  
Miranda good-naturedly did as she was requested, giving Sylvia a little modeling routine showing off the gown and hairstyle. Turning, she suddenly caught sight of herself in large mirror that was set into the door of an antique wardrobe. "Oh!" she exclaimed, as she looked at the stranger in front of her. ' What a difference a dress and hairstyle makes!' she thought to herself. She had never considered herself to be more than average looking, but she felt absolutely beautiful now. The dress fit her so well, and with most of her hair pulled up, and only a few curls tumbling around her shoulders she looked, well she looked like, what would you call it? Alluring? She almost felt as if there was a magic glow about her, improving her appearance. No, it couldn't be, She was just Miranda, Plain Jane librarian, from the Midwest United States. Nothing special. Nothing like this creature staring back at her.  
  
Sylvia was very happy with her creation, indeed. Now what else was in that little black box . . . yes, a bracelet. "Here Miranda, there is one more piece you have to try on." She walked over to Miranda, with a odd looking silver bracelet in her hands. The bracelet was made up on long silver bars, inter-spaced with what looked like inlaid onyx. For such a delicate bracelet, it seemed to have a very large, solid looking clasp on it. The clasp was covered with what appeared to be a stylized "S", or was that a snake? Either way, she didn't like it.  
  
Miranda jumped, as another roll of thunder shook the shop. She was suddenly afraid to try on the bracelet. She didn't understand the feeling, but something about it just didn't feel right. She told Sylvia that she might accidentally break the clasp on such an old piece of jewelry, but Sylvia was insistent that it would complete the outfit, and she must try it on.  
  
Feeling a little foolish about her sudden aversion to a simple piece of jewelry, Miranda dutifully held out her wrist so that Sylvia could fasten the bracelet on it. As soon as the clasp was closed, Miranda began to feel strange. She felt a little light-headed, as if she might faint. The thought that maybe she shouldn't have skipped lunch flashed through her mind. But, she knew it wasn't that, this was something else, something else entirely.  
  
Suddenly, it felt as if the ground had collapsed from under her. Her body felt as if it was being yanked somewhere, and she couldn't get a breath. Miranda opened her mouth to scream, but no sound came out. This was like one of her worst nightmares; the ones where you were falling, with nothing to support yourself, and no one to help you. As she blacked out, she wondered if this was what it felt like to die. 


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two.  
  
The first thing Miranda became aware of is that she was standing. That was strange, she had thought she was blacking out, and expected to be lying down when she awoke. How could she still be standing up? Afraid to open her eyes yet, she could still see flickering lights through her eyelids. She briefly wondered if the storm had finally knocked out the electricity and Sylvia had been forced to using candles.  
  
She heard some softly speaking voices, and was somewhat embarrassed to think that some other customers had come in to the shop and would see her standing there with her eyes closed. She decided to get brave and open her eyes, after all, the dizziness and other strange feelings seemed to have passed.  
  
Upon opening her eyes, she was met with the most bizarre sight. There were about a dozen people staring at her with a mixture expressions ranging from fear to concern. Most amazing of all was that each one was dressed more strangely than the next. Her first thought was that perhaps Sylvia had found more clothing in the trunk and had forced other customers to don them. But no, there could not have been time for that. She was thoroughly confused now. The people were wearing an assortment of clothing, long gowns on the women, and strange old-fashioned suits on the men. They were all wearing an odd piece of clothing over their other clothes. It resembled a cloak, or some sort of robe? And quite of few of them were wearing weirdly shaped hats.  
  
Then she noticed that she was not even standing in the shop anymore. She was standing in a large room, with a high ceiling and thick stone walls. There was comfortable looking furniture scattered around the room, and old carpets on the floor. There was a rather large fireplace centered in wall to her right. It crackled and gave off a strong aroma of burning wood. The room was lit by candlelight, only candlelight she realized. The candles caused the dimly lit room to flicker and made it, and the people in it, look that much more surreal.  
  
Miranda's first thought was that she must be dreaming. Or perhaps when she had blacked out, she had fallen and hit her head. Yes, that would explain why she was now standing in a room full of strangely dressed people, who looked at her as if she were about to eat them.  
  
Slowly, one of the people began to move towards her. He looked to be the oldest person in the room, sporting a very long white beard and hair. He wore long purple robes, and a matching hat.  
  
"Hello, my dear. Welcome to Hogwarts. To what do we owe the honor of your visit?"  
  
Miranda was nonplussed. She had no idea what to say to this kindly looking old man. Something strange was going on. She had never felt like this in any of her dreams before. It seemed so real. She could feel the heat of the fireplace, she could smell the wax from the burning candles. By now the old man had reached her side, and stood gazing curiously down at her. She didn't know what she was doing, but without thinking she had reached down and picked up the end of the man's long beard. She guessed she had wanted to feel it, to see if it felt real. It did feel real. She heard more murmers from the people scattered around the room. They were all still staring at her, waiting for her to do something. She just didn't know what. She dropped the man's beard, and looked up at him.  
  
"Are you alright?" Asked the old man. He seemed to be the spokesman for the group.  
  
"I don't know" Miranda sighed. "I think I may have blacked out, and you are all a figment of my imagination."  
  
"And what were you doing before you 'blacked out'? Do you remember?" he asked quietly, as if he was trying not to frighten her.  
  
"I was in my friends antique shop, and I had just tried on this gown. Oh, and then she made me try on this strange looking bracelet, and I felt like I was falling and then I was here." Miranda knew that wouldn't make much sense, but didn't really care at that point. After all, if they were all in her dream, what did it matter.  
  
The old man reached out and gently pulled her wrists to him. He released her left arm after he ascertained there was no bracelet on it. Then he looked more closely at her right wrist. The bracelet shone brightly in the firelight. He turned the bracelet and examined the clasp very closely, a frown beginning to form on his face.  
  
"Severus, you should look at this." The old man was looking past her shoulder and to her right.  
  
Up until that point Miranda was not aware there was anyone behind her. She gasped and turned quickly, right into the solid chest of a tall, dark man. She looked up into the darkest pair of eyes she had ever seen. They were like glittering black jewels, and staring at her intensely. Everything was dark about this man. He had black hair that he wore long and straight, down to his shoulders. He was dressed all in black and Miranda could feel a dark power emanating from him. His face was all angles, no softness there. He frightened her.  
  
He reached out to clasp her by the shoulders, and just the touch of his hands was enough to do what nothing else had so far been able to do. She fainted. 


End file.
